a-ha: TAKE ON ME

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E.C. McMullen Jr.
RUMOR

A city in panic as people vanish.
One scientist may have the answer, but is he telling the truth? Or is he hiding behind RUMOR?

PERPETUAL
BULLET

"'Some People' ... may be the standout story in the book."
- John Grant, Infinityplus

E.C. McMullen Jr.
WILLOW BLUE

"'Willow Blue' will burrow under your skin and stay there long after you've put the book down."
- Jeffrey Reddick, Creator of
FINAL DESTINATION

IN OTHER BOOKS
E.C. McMullen Jr.'s
short story
CEDO LOOKED LIKE PEOPLE
in the anthology
FEAR THE REAPER

"This Ray Bradbury-esque is one of the most memorable and one of the more original stories I've read in a long time."
- Steve Isaak,
Goodreads

HORROR 201:
The Silver Scream

Filmmaker's Guidebook
featuring
RAY BRADBURY,
JOHN CARPENTER,
WES CRAVEN,
TOM HOLLAND,
E.C. McMULLEN Jr.,
GEORGE A. ROMERO,
and many more.

And In
CINEMA
E.C. McMullen Jr.
Head Production Designer

MINE GAMES
(Starring:
JOSEPH CROSS,
BRIANA EVIGAN,
ALEX MERAZ,
ETHAN PECK)

Production Designer

UNIVERSAL DEAD
(DOUG JONES,
D.B. SWEENEY,
GARY GRAHAM)

	A-HA TAKE ON ME
a-ha: TAKE ON ME - 1985 By Morten Harket, Pal Waaktaar-Savoy, and Magne Furuholmen Video by Steve Barron

38 YEARS LATER

It's only natural that people would forget how influential 1980's ALTERED STATES was to 1980s culture. When 1970s hit TV series Happy Days and 1990s That 70s Show romanticized the past, they were less than 20 years from their target.

Here we are in 2020 and 40 years of ALTERED STATES influence still reverberate with an audience that could well be the grandchildren of the people who were kids of that era.

Three man 80s band, a-ha, splashed onto the scene in 1985 with their single hit, Take On Me. The song was popular, the three guys looked like runway models ranging from the bulky handsome vocalist, Morten Harket, to the hunky keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, to the handsome yet frighteningly thin Pål Waaktaar-Savoy. All of which would have been a flash in the pan if these Norwegians didn't have a pop-music sensibility and a lead vocalist with astounding range.

Yet it was clearly their video by Steve Barron which showcased their music with a heavy emphasis on their physical attractiveness. The dark scifi fantasy storyline itself would earn its place here even without the Science Fiction Horror movie connection.

This video won six awards at the 1986 MTV Music Video Awards, and the end is clearly influenced by ALTERED STATES.

As of January 2022, the Official video - originally shot on film stock and so able to be digitally remastered for 4K - has well over 1.4 billion views on YouTube alone.